China Confirms Initial AI Dialogue With U.S., Signals Possible Trade Truce Extension

He Yadong, spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce, gestures at a regular press conference on July 2, 2025 in Beijing, China.

BEIJING — China’s Commerce Ministry confirmed Thursday that senior trade negotiators held their first talks with the United States on artificial intelligence.

Spokesperson He Yadong told reporters that the two sides also discussed plans to reduce tariffs and extend trade arrangements agreed upon in Kuala Lumpur last October.

He was referring to meetings between China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in New York ahead of the summit this week between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

As Xi arrived in the U.S., Bessent told Fox News on Wednesday that the two countries had agreed to extend a trade truce through January. The truce, reached in October 2024, kept tariffs lower and limited China’s export controls on rare earths—critical components for semiconductors, household goods, and defense products.

Earlier in the week, Bessent said the two sides discussed establishing an AI dialogue and a mechanism for alerting each other to AI risks.

China’s confirmation of the AI talks came just hours before Xi and Trump were scheduled to begin talks in Washington, D.C., as part of a state visit.

The ministry added that the two sides held constructive, candid talks and reached multiple points of consensus.

Both countries are weighing how to address risks posed by rapidly advancing technology after recent AI incidents raised fears that increasingly autonomous models could accelerate attacks and make them harder to contain.

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